When I go to hear a friend or colleague speak, or attend a service, I love sitting in as inconspicuous a place as possible. There are many reasons for doing so, one, because I’ve come for the specific purpose of listening to someone speak, and secondly my thoughts are not interrupted with hellos and other greetings.
But I remember an instance when someone I knew called me, “Bob, your cousin didn’t call me on stage along with other dignitaries, does she know who I am?”
Well, my cousin who he was referring to at that time was the principal of a prestigious school, and the man who was hurt had once occupied a high government post. But the event had nothing to do with him or the post he’d once occupied, and I couldn’t for a moment understand why he felt slighted on not being called to sit on stage.
I remember, once sharing the stage with some of the best speakers in the country. I was humbled that God had given me such an opportunity and the next day being Sunday, I decided to visit the church of my childhood, sit in the last row, and thank God for what he was doing in my life. I had no idea that the priest had also come for the previous day’s function, and seeing me there, he paused during the service and asked me to stand up while the congregation applauded.
I was at first thoroughly embarrassed, but suddenly knew that God, as the ‘host’, was at work.
What does the Bible say about where you should be seated? Well in Luke 14;10, Jesus says, “But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honoured in the presence of all the other guests.”
The scriptures clearly speak about sitting in the ‘lowest place’.
It’s time we started following what God intended us to do, and not demand sitting on a stage to be honoured!
And that brings me to the word, ‘honour’!
What is this honour we hanker after? Is it the appreciation of men and women? I know many speakers who with eloquence and wit regale audiences with their charm, but they are mere entertainers. What we must do is build. Build the man or woman who is giving up, that shy person who looks around sad and disappointed. Build faith, build hope, build communities who fear oppression, and even if the applause is thin after you’ve spoken, a God above will move you to a ‘better place’, after you’ve finished your time in the ‘lowest place’ you’re living in.!
Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and author. He blogs at www.bobsbanter.com and can be reached at bobsbanter@gmail.com
